nsa apparently bugging her phone calls, part of a secret program monitoring dozens of world leaders. the white house says president obama was unaware of the program for nearly five years until it was uncovered over the summer during an internal review by the administration. the nsa denies a report that the president was briefed years ago by the head of the agency releasing this statement. general alexander, he is the head of the nsa, did not discuss with president obama in 2010 an alleged foreign intelligence operation involving german chancellor angela merkel nor as he ever discussed alleged operations involving chancellor merkel. news reports, caming otherwise, are not true. so let's talk about it with nina easton, senior editor and washington columnist for "fortune" magazine and fox news contributor. joe trippi was howard dean's presidential campaign manager. he is a fox news contributor. nina, the question is, i guess, you know, if the president didn't know about this, when did he know about it? >> this is all a pretty astonishing question. so are according to news reports offici